Debojyoti Ghosh & Mini Joseph Tejaswi | TNN
Bangalore: One borrowed laptop. One spare free room. A strong client base. Tons of confidence. That’s what prompted Anand K S (32) to chuck a stable job at Birla Sun Life Insurance and start an independent wealth management firm Nile Financial Planners eight months ago with ex-colleague Daya Paul.
Anand, an MBA with over seven years experience in the financial and banking sector, handles portfolios of around 150 top-level corporates and CEOs. “We started operations in February, but began earning only a month later,” he says. Today, Anand rakes in a lakh every month.
An increasing number of financial advisors are seeing sense in kicking high-pressure jobs with unreasonable targets and going solo. The incentives, if one has a fair client base, are manifold: no pressure from top managements, no job insecurity and most importantly, freedom to take on each client and offer customised services as opposed to standard revenue-based models.
“I can decide my game plan and capitalise the opportunity in the market to design the perfect business model, offering boutique deals, for each of my clients,” says Mrunmay Das. “I have the liberty to work on a much larger canvas — I invest in real estate, private equity, insurance and mutual funds.”
Das (34), better known as Wipro honcho Azim Premji’s former chief investment officer and personal advisor, calls himself an “outs o u rc e d CFO” for his clients at his firm Das Capital. He started the firm after a 10 year-chequered career in places like Karvy Consultants, UTI Securities, BNP Paribas and Merrill Lynch. His USP: provide clients the best available products in the market without being restricted to any particular segment.
India’s booming economy is leading to a supersonic increase in the number of high networth individuals (HNIs) and wealth, leading to a spurt in demand for wealth managers. According to the Global Wealth Model, the number of individuals in India with more than $100,000 in liquid assets has been growing at 17.7% annually over the 2001-2005 period. Rahul Mathur (36) should know. He was managing the wealth of five HNIs at an MNC bank for two years, but put in his papers to float an independent wealth management and consulting firm. Fed up of chasing “ever moving business targets”, Mathur is confident of making much more than his last salary in six months. Time with his one-year-old baby is a sweet bonus.
Independent advisors can choose their clients and build their brand equity in niche areas. Das, for instance, manages portfolios of 10 families — both Indians and NRIs — who’re worth a million dollars and more. “These kind of entrepreneurial ventures are successful only when you build credibility in the market over time,” he says. “Business grows only through reference and networking.”
Independent wealth managers need to understand the market psyche well to be able to invest in the right segment. While dealing with NRIs, the advisor should have regulatory knowledge and be well-versed with RBI policies and compliances.
